Michigan Democrat Shri Thanedar Ousted in Primary by Progressive Challenger Donavan McKinney
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar has lost his Democratic primary in Michigan to state Rep. Donavan McKinney, a win that strengthens the party’s progressive wing and
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar has lost his Democratic primary in Michigan to state Rep. Donavan McKinney, a win that strengthens the party’s progressive wing and removes another incumbent from the 2026 election map. NBC News projected the result on Wednesday.
The defeat lands in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, a Detroit-area seat where the race carried unusual local weight. McKinney, 34, ran with backing from prominent progressives in Michigan and beyond, and built his campaign around a sharper left-wing message than the incumbent offered.
A progressive upset in Detroit
McKinney campaigned as a democratic socialist and leaned hard into familiar progressive themes: “Medicare for All,” tighter limits on military aid to Israel, and bigger public investment in clean energy and housing. His victory adds to a string of primary defeats for Democrats seen as too close to the party establishment.
Unofficial results from Wayne County showed McKinney ahead by about 4,200 votes out of 112,000 cast, or roughly 4 percentage points, according to Bridge Michigan. The Associated Press also projected the win. Thanedar later conceded, saying voters in the district had chosen McKinney to represent them moving forward.
Thanedar’s fall after two terms
Thanedar, a wealthy businessman who first won the seat in 2022, had entered Congress after a narrow victory and later faced criticism from Democrats over his political profile and priorities. He initially ran as a progressive, then broke with the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023. He says he quit; the group’s local chapter says he was expelled.
He also shifted toward stronger support for Israel, a stance that stood out in a party fight where many Michigan Democrats were pressing for limits on military aid to the country. That issue loomed over several primaries in the state.
McKinney’s backers included Bernie Sanders, and several members of the Congressional Black Caucus also supported him in a district with a large Black population. The win came alongside other progressive gains in Michigan primaries, including victories in both congressional and local races.
Thanedar told NOTUS this week that he had struggled to win support from his congressional colleagues. With nearly all votes counted, the result leaves McKinney poised to take the Democratic line in a seat that could remain one of Michigan’s most closely watched political battlegrounds heading into the next phase of the race.
